The Road Trip
by hales716
Summary: Bella has just graduated high school and is ready for a fresh start, but when her brother returns unexpectedly from the line of duty, he invites Bella and her friends Alice and Rosalie to join him and his friends Edward and Jasper on a roadtrip. Along the way Bella will not only find love, but also herself. But not everything is what it seems. ExB AxJ ExR
1. Chapter 1

**Hello you beautiful people you! My name is Hales and this is the first fanfic i've posted in 5 years! Hope you all enjoy! Feel free to review and comment and let me know what you think or if there are any changes I should make! No beta for this so if there are any errors, I apologize in advance, I tried to find most of them before putting this up. Enjoy! :) **

I never saw it coming. I never thought that life would turn out this way for me. I never thought that I could gain the world but lose the only thing that made my world turn. Life if messy and wonderful, and we're lucky if we ever find someone who can make us feel like we're more than what we settle for. My name is Bella and this is my story.

"Bella! You're going to be late for your last day of school!" My mom yelled up the stairs. Melodious notes flowed out of my iPod, traveling down the length of my headphones into my ears, drowning out the warnings from my mother on my tardiness. It was the last day of senior year with college right around the corner, and I couldn't have been better prepared for high school to be over than I was in that moment. Looking down at the book in my hands, I turned my wrist, catching the time on my watch and immediately panicked. School started in ten minutes and I was fifteen minutes behind schedule. I raced around my room, throwing my pants on faster than I ever had before, and yanking my sweater free from the tower of books that lay on top of it, making them all tumble down to the carpet below. Slipping my converse on, I thumped my way down the stairs, dodging our tabby, Monty, in the process. I skipped the last step and made a beeline for the front door but just as I was turning the handle, I felt a pair of familiar arms reach around my stomach and pull me backwards into their owner.

"EEK!" I squealed as I was lifted off the ground and spun in circles. A bellowing laugh accompanied my squeals and had spread warmth throughout my body straight into my heart. The spinning stopped eventually, thank god, and I was placed back on the ground, only for me to turn and throw my arms around the neck of my older brother, Emmett.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be overseas right now?!" I demanded.

He laughed and squeezed me tighter, "You're right, I should be somewhere else, let me be on my way. Sorry to have bothered you ma'm." He retorted.

I formed a brace with my hands and locked it around his neck so he wasn't able to make a single move. I was never letting him out of my sight again.

"Hey! I never said I wanted you to head back, I was just simply demanding an answer to your sudden appearance." I replied. "Are you on leave?"

"I am actually, but only for a little while, and then I have to head back. They're deploying us to a new country this time around."

Normally I would have tried to pull information from him, but I knew that he was sworn to secrecy and wasn't able to disclose hardly anything about his missions, so I let it drop but secretly hoped it was a closer country than last time; like Canada. I could live with Canada. I lowered my arms from his neck and took a step back so that we weren't on top of one another.

"How long are you here for?" I inquired.

"Three weeks! Practically forever in my eyes!" He laughed.

"That's so exciting! I can't believe I get to have three weeks of you all to myself!" I smiled. His features turned suddenly into a slightly boyish look of guilt. He started messing with his fingers and running a hand through his hair.

"Nu-uh! You are not ditching me! You can't leave when you've just gotten here!" I cried.

"Bella, I'm so sorry, but Jasper, Edward and I planned this a long time ago, right before I was deployed the first time, and I can't just back out on it now. Everything's been paid for."

I sighed, defeated and disheartened more than ever. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Jasper, Edward and I are all headed on a road trip from here to Virginia, where I'm shipping out of. Should be about a week or two since were stopping to see the sights, which means that we have at least a week to spend together! Also, I'm here for your high school graduation so that has to count for something, right?" He bargained, his eyes pleading with me to understand.

I gave him a look of deceit, and made my way to the front door. Now I was definitely late for school and officially depressed. Oh well, it's not like they could fail me at this point. I mean it is the last day, and we graduate tomorrow.

I walked to my car, sat down and started up the engine. Emmett opened the front door and gave me a look of regret and the biggest eyes I've seen to date, and slowly raised his hand to timidly wave goodbye.

I'll admit, his puppy dog eyes always did make me feel guilty, but I haven't seen the man in almost a year, and now he tells me that I only have a week to spend some quality brother/sister time with him before he ditches me for his two old high school buddies for a random road trip. Not cool bro.

I knew Jasper well enough because my best friend Alice has been dating him since our sophomore year of high school. He was a senior then, like my brother, and they were completely smitten with one another; still are to this day. Edward though, he was one that I had a hard time remembering, even though he was Alice's older brother. He was hardly ever around in high school, always hanging out somewhere with Emmett and Jasper or with some floozy getting it on I'm sure. The man in high school was practically a super model, had the girls flocking to him like a moth to light and he always took it as an opportunity to have a new girlfriend every week. But after Emmett graduated, they all went their separate ways; Edward to Stanford, Emmett to the Marines, and Jasper to the University of Washington. Jasper stayed local to be closer to his family, but we all know it was mainly to be closer to Alice.

I can understand Emmett's desire to reunite with his best friends, but he should remember who his first best friend was and who was there for every birthday party, every Christmas, every first date, (not there on the date mind you, but I always did give the girls a hard time before they left. I was very protective of my older brother) and every single time his heart was broken. But hey, road trip with the guys sounds ten times better than hanging out with your little sister I'm sure. I can't fault him for growing up and being an adult, but why does he have to leave me in the dust while doing so?

I made it to school, half an hour late and without a care in the world. I was still upset with Emmett but I was also just so happy that he was home and nothing could rain on my parade today.

School was positively pointless, mainly just yearbook signing for the seniors since our finals were almost a week early than the rest of the school, and I couldn't wait to get out of this place for good. I didn't mind my high school experience, I had definitely made some really great friends out of it. There's Alice and Rose, my two best friends, and then there's Jessica and Angela, Mike and so many others. But honestly, I'm more than excited to move on from high school, from all of the drama, and to finally start living my life the way I want to, to explore college the way I want to with no distractions and nothing holding me back.

The final bell rang, and papers went flying, seniors dashing out the doors cheering and hollering, celebrating freedom from the concrete walls that had detained us all of these years. I searched around for Alice and Rose, wanting to share this moment with them. They had gym for their last period, while I was stuck in English. I heard a high-pitched squeal and a tinkling laugh come from behind me and smile spread across my face. I could recognize these sounds anywhere.

I spun around and was greeted with a bulldozing hug by my two best friends. We were all jumping up in down in a circle, cheering and laughing, celebrating our final moments of high school. It was the best and only memory I wanted to take away with me from my entire experience. I had never felt more carefree or happy in my entire life. I leaned back and let the sun that was peeking through the gray and gloomy clouds, lightly warm my face.

I was free. I was done. I was ready.

"Can you believe that we're done!" Alice yelled.

"No, but yes at the same time. Thank God I don't have to sit another minute in this hell hole any longer!" Rosalie cheered.

"Aw c'mon Rose, it wasn't all that bad. You had Alice and I to suffer along with you all these years," I laughed.

"True story sista! I'm just thankful to be done. Let's blow this popsicle stand ladies." Rosalie held out her bent arm towards me, in which I linked mine with hers and my other with Alice's arm. We walked along the corridors to the open parking lot, which was filled with almost the entire student body. People hugging goodbye, some crying for those who were to never return for another year, others cheering and throwing water on each other, laughing without a care in the world.

We all piled into Alice's car, and pulled out of there before we were caught in the heavy traffic of Forks High.

Alice and Rosalie had started talking about graduation tomorrow and what they were wearing underneath their gowns, trying to set a game plan of how to get "the right look". I was staring absentmindedly out the window, watching the trees rush past us as we sped through the heavy forest of Forks.

Alice lived in a huge mansion out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by lush tree's and not a neighbor in sight, but it was perfect because it was filled with an amazing family whom I loved dearly; Alice's parents Esme and Carlisle, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen. I adored them and secretly always thought of them as my second set of parents. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved Renee and Charlie, Mom and Dad, but Renee was always a bit eclectic and all over the place and Charlie, well Charlie liked to keep to himself. He was always fishing or over on the reservation with his friend Billy, living out the glory days of when they were young.

My Dad was born and raised in Forks and when he was eighteen, went to college in Phoenix, AZ. There he met my mom and they had fallen in love, fast and furious and not long after they both graduated, they married and settled down in Phoenix. Emmett came soon after that, followed by me two years later. We lived there most of my life and when I was just entering seventh grade, Charlie was offered a job as Police Chief in Forks, after the former Chief had retired. It was his dream job and he graciously accepted with the approval of my Mom. We moved two months later in the middle of July, and by September, Emmett and I had started school. Forks High for him and Forks Middle for me. There I met Alice and Rose and Emmett had met Jasper and Edward. We been friends with them ever since.

We pulled into the Cullen's driveway and immediately ran to the porch to avoid the sudden downpour of rain that had greeted us when we arrived.

"Ugh! The rain messed up my perfectly spiked hair! Do you know how long it took me to get this to look just right? Do you?!" Alice exclaimed.

"Calm down crazy, it's just water, it'll dry in no time. You can't even tell anyways Alice, your hair looks perfect as always." I replied

"Do you not understand the fundamentals of good hair and how its supposed to be styled to perfection?! I cant just let it dry and leave it to do its own thing. It needs to be tamed and styled!" She retorted.

Rose just rolled her eyes along with me and we walked over and settled into the living room.

"Oh no, don't worry about me, just sit down and enjoy. I'll get the snacks. Wouldn't want you to lift a finger," She snapped at us. We knew she was just being dramatic, so we replied back to her with as much enthusiasm as possible.

"K, thanks." We said in unison.

Alice huffed at us and walked away into the kitchen to retrieve the chocolate and popcorn, a tradition we started at the end of each school year. We would make a bag or two of popcorn, melt some chocolate chips and pour it over the salty, buttery popcorn. Best snack ever.

Rose and I had E! News on and were discussing who was hotter, Ryan Gosling or Ryan Reynolds when we heard a deep and melodious chuckle come from our right, over by the staircase. I heard a gasp from Rose, and saw that her eyes had suddenly widened and mouth had slightly come unhinged. I gave her a dumbfounded look and turned to see what the fuss was about.

I came face to face with none other than Edward Cullen himself. The years did him justice and he was more handsome than ever. I on the other hand, am officially in trouble.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Since the last chapter ended on an introduction, I decided to post the second chapter. A new one wont be up for a least a week or so. Thanks to so many of you who started following this story after one chapter! You're the best! Just a heads up that this chapter is all in the same day as the first one. Hope you guys like it! REVIEW it! I love feedback and any questions you might have! Feel free to either post them or PM me! :) I am also currently looking for a beta at this time! Thanks so much! :)**

There he was, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed in front of him and one leg crossed in front of the other. If he had been posing for GQ magazine, he would have definitely made the cover. He had the most gorgeous head of hair, tousled and full, and a bronze looking color to boot. It practically begged me to run my fingers through it. I had to stop myself from drooling for a minute and gain my composure. Rose, on the other hand, had a bit of drool starting to drip out the side of her mouth. I pinched her leg to bring her back to the world of the sane, and she responded by yelping and smacking me in the boob. Ladies and gentlemen, Rosalie Hale, always keeping it classy.

"Hello ladies! How are you both this evening?" The gorgeous creature across the room asked us.

"F-fine" Rosalie stuttered. I snickered under my breath, but couldn't really fault her for it. I don't think I have a voice anymore so she's doing a lot better than me at this point.

"Glad to hear it. Not sure if you both remember me or not but, I'm Edward, Alice's brother." He started across the room and held out his hand. I being the only one who had yet to say anything decided I should probably become a human being with manners again, and grabbed his hand. A jolt of what felt like electricity surged through my hand into his and back. It was as if he shocked me, but there wasn't the pain that normally would follow, it was something different. I stopped for a minute and looked up into his eyes and there was a questioning look on his face, as if he had felt it too. I retreated my hand and looked downwards, trying to figure out what just happened.

He shook it off and reached out to shake Rose's hand and then stepped back a bit.

"You must be Rose," he nodded in her direction, "And you must be Isabella?" He looked towards me.

I slowly nodded my head, and cleared my throat because lord knows there's a pool of saliva in my mouth, courtesy of Mr. Hot Pants over there.

"It's Bella, actually. Nice to see you again Edward." I replied.

He gave me a crooked smile and I swear butterflies invaded my stomach. Just then Alice appeared with the popcorn and drinks. She stopped when she noticed Edward standing in front of us, and especially the way we were acting.

"I see you all re-introduced yourselves to one another. Save's me the hassle!" She said, giving Rose and I sly glances that said, 'I totally know you have the hots for my brother.' Boy was she right.

"Yes, I was just getting reacquainted with your beautiful friends." Edward replied charmingly. Alice laughed and pushed him aside, setting down the snacks on the coffee table.

"Back off dude, these girls have more common sense than most, to not hang around the likes of you brother dearest." She retorted. Edward rolled his eyes at his sister and turned towards us.

"Don't believe a word she says. That was the old me, I've changed."

"Yeah and pigs are now flying and long lost cows have returned home. Move it along mister! You know I love you like a brother, but this is girls night!" Edward rolled his eyes once more and sighed, shaking his head at his sister's antics.

"Fine, I was going to go see Emmett anyways. I heard he's back in town." He remarked, glancing in my direction.

Rosalie turned to me with wide eyes, and grabbed my arm.

"Emmett's back in town?" She questioned. Her grip started to become tighter and tighter. I was beginning to believe she was more interested in taking my blood pressure than grabbing my arm.

"Ouch, Rose back off the arm! My blood pressure is just fine." I snapped at her, prying her hand off of my now red bicep. That's going to leave a mark.

"Sorry Bells, didn't mean to grip you so hard." She apologized. "So when did Emmett come home?"

"Today actually. He surprised me while I was on my way out the door this morning for school. He's on leave for three weeks, but he's only in town for one, before he takes off with Jasper and Edward for a road trip." I replied sullenly. I was still a bit peeved that he wasn't sticking around and leaving me behind.

"Road trip? Since when are you going on a road trip?" Alice piped in, glancing at her brother.

"Since forever ago my dear sister. We've been planning this since high school. We were supposed to go after our first year of college but Emmett just had to up and join the Marines, so now that he's back, our plans are finally in motion." Edward walked over to the sofa opposite us and sat down. He had crossed his left leg over the other, and draped his right arm across the back. I wanted to be that sofa right about now.

"I'm offended. You're finally home from college and I haven't seen you since Christmas and now you're ditching me for two weeks?!" Alice whined.

"Alice, you have Bella and Rose for the whole summer, what's two weeks without me going to do?" Edward reasoned. Although, there's never really any reasoning with Alice, only agreeing.

"It's going to ruin everything!" She snapped. We all looked at her puzzled and she blushed slightly, but didn't let that stop her because now, she was more determined than ever.

"Can we come?" She pleaded.

Edward laughed and shook his head.

"Not in a million years. It's a guy's trip." He crossed his arms to put the nail in the coffin on the subject, but Alice wasn't letting up one bit.

"I bet if I ask Jasper he would say yes..." She threatened, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

Edward's eyes grew wide and he stood up suddenly, "No Alice. No. You're not invited whatsoever. It's for the three of us guys only. No if's, and's, or butt's about it." He replied sternly.

Alice huffed and crossed her arms, a sad pout making its way onto her face.

"Nope. No. Not falling for it Alice. Nice try." Edward replied, trying to fight his sister's puppy dog eyes. He started to look like he was caving when she started to get really upset, but he stood his ground on the subject and walked out of the room, leaving Rose and I to deal with a pouty Alice.

The moment she heard him close the door to his room, she snapped right back into her old self.

"Well that was anticlimactic," I said. Rose laughed under her breath and Alice glared at me.

"Just you wait Bella, we're going on that road trip and it's going to be the best summer of your life." She threatened, jabbing a finger in my direction.

"Alice, we don't even want to go on the road trip, you're the only one. Why are you trying to drag us into something we don't need to be a part of?" I questioned, pushing her finger out of my face.

She crossed her arms and pointedly looked behind me. I turned to look at Rose and saw she had a sheepish look on her face, her eyes downcast.

"Rose? You don't want to go on the road trip…right?"

"Well, it does sound like fun…" She said quietly. A knowing smirk worked its way across Alice's face. Oh great, here we go again.

Rose used to have the biggest crush on my brother in high school and now it looks like some things haven't changed. Of course this road trip would be the perfect excuse for her to get close to Emmett while Jasper and Alice get to spend time together, but then that leaves Edward and I on our own, with no one to snuggle up next to at night. I don't mind being single, but at the same time, the last thing I want is to spend two weeks with two different couples while having to make awkward conversation with Edward. Not my idea of a fun summer before college.

"Rose c'mon, you cant be serious!" I exclaimed. I didn't want any part of this whatsoever. As much as I wanted my brother to stay in town so that I could spend time with him, I didn't want it to be on the road with four other people, crammed into a car, regretting every single mile that passed under our feet.

"Oh stop it Bella, you know you want to go as well. You and Edward can cozy on up to one another and make some sparks fly!" She replied with a twinkle in her eye.

"No, absolutely not! I'm not into Edward in any way. He's not my type." I retorted, crossing my arms and leaning back. Not amused with this conversation whatsoever.

Alice snorted at me, "Bella, you two are so made for each other, you have no idea. I think we should go, and you should give Edward a chance. I can tell that he feels something for you too. Total sparks when you two saw each other again!" She winked at me.

I rolled my eyes, "Alice, he's not into me, I'm not into him, plain and simple. I'm not going on a road trip across the entire country with all of you, but if you want to force your way in, by all means, go right ahead, just count me out." I replied.

Alice got up off the couch and stood in front of me, crossing her arms in the process and giving me a stern look. Rose on my left turned to face me and put a hand on my arm.

"Bella, your brother is only here for so long. Make the most of it. You don't know when he's going to be able to return or if he even will, God forbid. I think this is something we all need to do before we head off to college. A chance for not only us, but for the guys as well to spend time with the ones we love before we venture out on our own." Rose said. Alice nodded and came to sit next to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I sighed, knowing they were right. It would be a chance to do something we've never done before. To see the world, well most of the United States, and maybe have an adventure or two.

I'm a total homebody but I could be adventurous…I think.

"Okay fine, I'll talk to Emmett, but Alice you have to talk to Jasper and Edward and convince them as well. It'll never work otherwise." I said. Alice squealed and squeezed me in a tight hug, followed by Rose who squeezed even harder. I swear, one more person and they would literally be able to pop me like a balloon.

"Oh Bella! This is so exciting! Oh my gosh! I have so much to pack! How many bags do you think we can bring? I'll need one for my shoes, shirts, pants, makeup…" She started walking away, towards the staircase mumbling to herself about packing, while Rose and I laughed at her ridiculousness. She is literally the craziest person I have ever met, and that's why I love her to death.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

I finally made it back home after convincing Alice that she could start packing tomorrow and didn't have to start right away. I was physically and mentally exhausted and all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and never wake up. Granted, I graduated tomorrow and I definitely couldn't sleep through that, but hey, a girl can dream can't she?

I shut the front door behind me and turned to see that most of the house lights were off which meant my parents were asleep. I quietly made my way to the kitchen to get a glass of water, trying not to make any noise. I was in the process of filling up my glass when I heard,

"Hey squirt!" I shrieked and dropped the glass in the sink, shattering it everywhere. There was glass on the counter top, all over the sink, and now in my hand, which had started to bleed. Perfect.

"Shit! Bells I'm so sorry, are you okay? Oh my god, you're bleeding. Hold on, let me get a towel!" Emmett started freaking out and running around the house grabbing band-aids and towels, ointment, the whole nine yards. He had me thoroughly rinse my hand where the cut was until the water started to run clear. He led me over to the kitchen table and sat me down and then proceeded to take a pair of tweezers and lightly pluck out the fragments of glass stuck in my skin.

"Bells, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you like that and end up hurting you. I feel like such an idiot." He cried, focusing all of his attention on my hand as to not hurt me again. I grabbed his arm with my good hand and shook him till he looked me in the eye.

"It's alright Em, accidents happen. I could have easily done it without your help. I'm just glad you're here to take care of me now" I smiled.

He seemed to ease up a bit, but I could tell he was still upset with himself. After five minutes of plucking, he seemed satisfied that all of the glass was removed, and proceeded to put antibacterial ointment on my cut, followed by a band-aid and then finished it off by wrapping it up in an ace bandage to keep it nice and tight. I felt better already, but it was mainly due to Emmett being the one to take care of me.

"Em, can I talk to you about something?" I asked, making sure to keep my bandaged hand in sight, use it for my advantage.

"Sure, what's up bells?" He replied, putting away the first aid in the cabinet behind us.

"Well, I know you and the guys are planning on taking a road trip to Virginia, and I'm happy for you, I really am, but I'm also really heartbroken at the same time. I haven't seen you in close to a year and was so excited to spend some time with you before you left again to go overseas for Lord knows how long this time." I whispered out the last part of it, emphasizing my sadness. I know I was definitely playing it up big time, but I did mean everything I was saying.

"Bells, I'm really sorry. If I had a choice I would stay and change it around, but the guys and I have been planning this for years and I cant just back out now. We leave in a week. I wish there was something I could do to make it better." He said, reaching out and grabbing me into a bear hug.

"Well there is one thing…" I replied. He stepped back and searched my eyes. Apparently he didn't like what he saw because the no's started pouring out immediately.

"No Bella. This is for us men, only. Absolutely not!" He stood firm, his military voice starting to seep in. I knew I was in dangerous waters so I had to be sure to maneuver them carefully.

I reached out grabbed his hand with my free one, and looked him square in the eyes, showing I meant business but I also want him to hear me out.

"Em, it wouldn't be just me. It would be Alice and Rose as well. Alice would obviously love to spend time with Jasper and I know that Rose would love to spend some time with a certain brother of mine." His eyes lifted up at that, and I knew I had reeled him in, "We just want to have an unforgettable summer as well, and I know I can't have one unless you're there for it every step of the way. Please Em, let us come and we can all have a great time. You'll have too much testosterone on the trip anyways, so we'll balance it out for you!" I pleaded with him to say yes and it looked like he was starting to cave.

"I don't know Bells…To be honest, I'm not completely opposed to it, but I know the other guys will be. Jasper is too much of a pushover when it comes to Alice, but Edward, he's not going to budge." He replied.

I sighed and stepped back from him, sitting back in the chair I had previously occupied. He sat down across from me and grabbed my hand again.

"Look, I can't guarantee anything right now, but if I promise to talk to Edward about it, can you please for the love of god stop breaking my heart with that sad look on your face." He reached forward and grabbed me, lifting me onto his lap so he could give me a big hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed as tight as I could.

I leaned back to look in his eyes, "Thank you Em, I really do appreciate it." I smiled at him and it caused him to smile back. He squeezed me once more and stood up. I slid off his lap and he turned towards the kitchen wall, turning the lights off and waiting for me to join him. We traipsed up the stairs and he made sure I got into my room okay. He reached forward, gave me a big bear hug and kissed me on the forehead.

"I can't promise anything but I will talk to him. Until then though, I'm so happy I could be home for your big day tomorrow! Get some rest bellybean! Love you!" Emmett whispered as to not wake up our parents.

"Thanks Em, love you too. Goodnight!" I whispered back. He turned and walked down the hall to his makeshift room and shut the door quietly behind him.

I turned back inside my room and a big yawn escaped me. I suddenly felt even more tired than before and couldn't wait to crawl into bed and have a nice and relaxing dreamless sleep.

Only, it wasn't dreamless. No, my dreams were vivid and bright, colorful and felt scarily real to me.

That night my dreams were of a bronze haired, green eyed, handsome devil named Edward Cullen and from that point on, I knew I was never going to get a good nights rest ever again. I hate when Alice is right.

**Review, Review! Let me know what you all thought! If you see any errors or have any remarks feel free to post it in the review or PM them to me! Love you all! **

**-Hales**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello Beautiful people! Here is the third chapter as promised :) Took me awhile to get this one down and made it a bit longer than the other two have been so far. Hope you all enjoy and don't forget to REVIEW and let me know what you think! **

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I groaned from under my nice and fluffy comforter, and reached out my hand to smack around my nightstand before I hit what I was looking for.

Silence filled the room and the throbbing in my head started to lessen with every second.

I peeked out from under the covers and saw that it was eight o'clock in the morning, definitely too early to be up, but it wasn't a school day anymore so I had that to be thankful for. I slowly stretched sinking down lower on my bed, completely covered by my blankets this time. I settled into darkness letting the sleep overtake me once more when I heard a noise. It sounded like a creak and then quiet shuffling. I figured it was Monty, our cat, but normally he's much quieter when he comes in. Sometimes I don't even hear him. Just as I was about to peek out to see who it was, I was suddenly air-born.

Arms had wrapped around the blankets on top of me and then myself was included, cocooning me and practically suffocating me in the process. I screamed bloody murder thinking that whoever had a hold of me didn't have the best intentions. I started kicking and thrusting my hands against the blanket, but it was no use as they were stuck to my side, unable to move. I was slowly being carried somewhere and I really started to panic this time because I had no idea where I was being taken or who was taking me for that matter.

I felt myself going up and down slightly so I figured I was on the stairs. When we hit the bottom, with me still kicking and screaming, on the verge of tears, we turned and I banged my head on a wall.

"OW! Are you freaking kidding me! Whoever you are, I promise you'll be dead in five seconds if you don't put me down immediately. I will call the cops and have your ass arrested. TRY ME!" I threatened, but it didn't sound as badass as I would have hoped, since my voice was muffled by the blanket. I'm sure I just sounded like a Muppet at that point.

I felt us come to a stop and then I was air-born once more. I screamed and flailed my legs and hit something soft.

"OOF!" All of the air came rushing out of me. I coughed for a second and threw back the blanket, my brown locks in a disarray, and looked to see my entire family and friends sitting in the living room, tears running down their faces, laughing at what I'm sure was a hilarious show.

"Oh. My. God. You should have seen your face, and heard your ranting under the blanket." Alice guffawed. Rose had to lean against Alice for support for fear she was going to fall over.

"Bella, what the hell is wrong with you!" Rose laughed. "Do you really think if you were being kidnapped, he would have taken you in a blanket and just walked around the house with you?"

I sneered at them and spit some hair out of my mouth that had gotten in somehow on my journey down the stairs. I sat up straight and crossed my arms, turning towards my kidnapper with an un-amused look on my face. Emmett was laughing and leaning against someone, holding his stomach from I'm sure when my foot made contact with it a couple of times. I looked to see who was in the room so I knew who to put on my hit list as accomplices in the whole endeavor.

_Let's see, there's Alice…oh she is definitely getting hers. Rose, she's dead to me. Mom and Dad?! Now that's just plain rude. Jasper, well he…wait Jasper is here? Well he's still getting his butt kicked. Edward, now I expected something like this out of Emmett….wait EDWARD IS HERE!? _

I stopped my inner monologue for a second as my eyes bugged out of my head. There standing in all of his glory was Edward Cullen and I looked like I had just gone through an exorcism with the way my hair and face looked. He was grinning at me with that crooked smile of his stretching across his face. I was going to kill Emmett for causing a scene and now making me look like a hot mess in front of a hot guy.

"What in the world are you all doing here?" I asked while trying to tame my hair, which wasn't working out to my advantage.

"We're here to discuss our trip this summer." Alice said with a knowing smirk on her face.

"Trip? What tri-oh! Wait what?" I was completely confused. Just last night it sounded as if us girls were uninvited indefinitely and now it seemed as if something happened that I didn't know about.

Emmett laughed and walked over to where I was on the couch. He sat down and ruffled my already tangled hair. "Yup! That's right squirt! We're all going on the road trip!"

"But I thought that we weren't invited?" I questioned.

"Well I talked it over with the guys who were bombarded by Alice well before I talked to them, and we decided that it wouldn't be completely awful if you three were to join us.

"Are you serious!?" I jumped off the couch and threw my arms around my brother, squeezing the crap out of him.

"Thank you, thank you thank you!" I exclaimed and ran to Alice and Rose as we all squealed and dog-piled on one another, laughing at our silliness.

"Hey what about me!" Emmett exclaimed. "I am the one who's letting you go you know…"

We looked at each other and smirked and went running straight at him, dog-piling on top of him as he laughed and squirmed, trying to get us off.

"Okay, I meant hugs or words of gratitude, not lets trample Emmett to death."

"This gown is so itchy!" I had unsuccessfully been trying to reach a spot on my back for at least twenty minutes now. I was close to saying screw it and taking off the gown altogether, alternating to walk across in my dress instead. That'll teach them to get itchy robes for next years round of students.

"Here let me help." A velvety voice had said behind me. Whoever it was, began to scratch around my back until I helped them pinpoint where the itch was.

"Ahh, thank you so much! This stupid robe is a pain in the ass." I remarked. A familiar chuckle came out of the person's mouth and I turned around to see its owner.

"Ed-Edward, what are you doing here," I stuttered. He had this sparkle in his eye and he chuckled again at my reaction. He was dressed in these dark wash jeans that made EVERYTHING look good, (if you know what I mean), and a dark gray button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was the definition of a wet dream.

"Just trying to help out a friend. We've been sitting down watching you struggle for the past twenty minutes now. I took pity on you." He smiled. I could feel a blush starting to make its way across my face as I looked down towards my feet in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's okay. Like I said, I came to help you out." He put a finger under my chin and titled my head till I was looking into his emerald eyes once more.

"Th-Thanks. I appreciate it." I whispered.

A look had crossed his face just then, a mixture of what I assumed was desire and something else. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but before I could say anything, it disappeared, followed by a polite smile and these desperate eyes.

"Will you excuse me? Have to hit the restroom before the ceremony begins. Good luck, you'll do great!" He rushed out and took off towards the back of the auditorium.

_Well, that was strange. _I thought to myself but didn't decide to read further into it. Maybe he really had to go. Lord knows those tacos we ate for lunch weren't settling well in my stomach. On that thought, my stomach made a weird grumbling noise. Yup, it was definitely bad tacos.

The lights dimmed and the ceremony began. We were all sitting down in our seats, watching as the principle, some board members, some other people I didn't care about and finally the valedictorian speak. It felt like forever before they started calling people up to receive their diplomas. Alice was a part of the first group of students and when they called her name, I swear her entire family, plus mine, the Hale's and the Whitlock's all screamed and cheered for her. She had the biggest grin on her face as she shook hands and was handed her diploma. Next up was Rosalie, who of course was wearing heels so high you could practically crawl underneath them. How she managed to walk in those things, let alone go up and down a flight of stairs was beyond me, but of course as she made her way across the stage, she received the same treatment as Alice had before her. Lots of screaming and cheering and whooping stretched across the auditorium.

I, of course, was last to go in our trio. While standing in line watching my fellow classmates ahead of me walk down and receive there diploma's, I looked out into the crowd and spotted my family. My mom had tears streaming down her face while my Dad had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her to him, with the proudest look on his face. Then there was Emmett. Mr. Strong Man who never shed a tear, or at least that claimed he never did, had the biggest smile on his face and the happiest tears streaming down his cheeks just for me. I had to turn away for fear that I would start to cry as well.

I was up next and by the time they finally called my name, I had to stop walking for a second because the screaming and cheering was so loud it scared the living shit out of me. If I wasn't afraid of falling on my face before, I definitely was now. I started walking again towards the principle, shaking all of the hands that were thrust out at me, and stopping to smile for the crowd, holding my diploma in my right hand for the photographer who had been taking pictures of everyone that day. I finally made it back to my seat and not long after, we were announced as the graduating class of 2014. Caps went flying, their tassels streaming through the air, cheers and hugs being shared all around. In that moment, time stood still for me. It was as if everything had slowed to a crawl and I watched as everyone cheered, cried, dodged flying caps, and most of all, showed so much love. Love that I desperately wanted, love that I didn't know I had right in front of me. Love that looked like bronze hair and emerald eyes, that had a crooked smile with utter happiness plastered on its face. Love, that went by the name of Edward Cullen.

We celebrated into the night, Alice, Rose and I hopped from party to party, celebrating with friends before we tired ourselves out and drove home, talking about our day and what our upcoming trip would be like. Alice and Rose slept over at my house and we watched movies in the den, made our favorite snack and eventually talked ourselves to sleep.

The next few days were spent packing and shopping for supplies for the trip. The group of us hit up Target, stocking up on the essentials and checking things slowly off the list that Alice had written up. It had to be at least five pages long. Eventually we got everything situated. We had to rent a car for the trip because we all couldn't fit in any of the cars we already had, so we ended up getting a Dodge Caravan, or the Mom Van as the guys dubbed it, and stuffed it full of our bags and coolers filled with food and drinks. We had to talk Alice down off the ledge at one point when we couldn't fit her eight bags in the car and told her she needed to downsize to four.

Thank God for Jasper, otherwise we would probably be planning a funeral service right about now.

The night before we left, we all camped out at the Cullen's house since our place or Rose or Jasper's place wasn't able to fit us all. The girls slept in Alice's room while the guy's piled into Edward's room. You would think in a house filled with spare rooms, the guy would get their own, but apparently they like to gossip just as much as us girls.

"So Bella, what are your intentions with my brother?" Alice blurted out into the darkness.

"What!" I shrieked. The girls started giggling and I just rolled my eyes.

"C'mon Bella, we're not blind. We know you have the hot's for Eddie." Rose replied.

"I do not! Sure he's good looking and all but I'm not interested in taking it any farther than just looking." I retorted. Alice snorted under her breath and Rose started giggling again.

"Well I know he's interested in taking it farther than the stares you two have been giving each other lately." Alice remarked.

"Huh?"

"Yeah when I was trying to convince him the other night, he asked about you. Asked if you were included in the "we" that wanted to join them on their trip. I told him that you were and he got this look on his face. I've never seen him react that way to a person before." Alice said.

"That doesn't mean anything Alice. For all you know, he could actually dislike me and was wondering if I was coming so that way he could decide if he wanted to suffer dealing with me for two weeks." I snapped.

"Oh come off it Bella, we see the way he looks at you, especially when you're not looking, and everyone, even Emmett can tell that he feels the complete opposite of dislike for you." Rose lightly smacked my stomach. I groaned thinking of my brother and the things he would do to Edward if he even tried to make a move. She turned away from me towards Alice who was on the other side of her and they started to whisper something to one another. I was pretty tired so I didn't hear everything they said, but I did catch one faint whisper:

Operation Bellward is a go.

We all woke up early the next day, knowing that we had to make it to Salt Lake City by sundown. We figured it wouldn't be hard, but with six people, two whom have the bladders of infants, it would take us almost the full day to get there. Fifteen hours plus in a car definitely was going to be interesting.

"Emmett! Turn the freaking music down!" I screamed towards the front of the van. He had been blasting something metal for at least an hour now and we had barely made it out of Portland. It was slowly driving me insane. Rosalie had taken a spot next to Emmett in the front, not being obvious about her intentions whatsoever (insert eye roll here). Alice had opted to sit in the very back with me after I begged her to not make me sit next to Edward just yet. If I was eventually going to have to, I wanted it to be on my own terms.

Rose finally heard my yelling over the song and turned it down.

"Finally! Thank you!" I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated already while everyone else just laughed at my antics.

"So Bella," Jasper turned in his seat to look back at Alice and I, "Where are you planning on going for college?" Apparently his question attracted the attention of Edward and even Emmett and Rosalie.

They all had a curious look on their faces, although Alice and Rose had known where I applied to, and which schools accepted my application. I had only a week left to give the school of my choice an answer and I still was having a hard time making my decision.

"Uh, I'm still deciding between two schools at the moment. I applied to a bunch of places and got in but haven't made a decision yet." I felt the nerves settling in the pit of my stomach. I think a part of me knew what I wanted, but at the same time, it would take me far across the country, away from everything and everyone that I knew.

"What are the two schools?" Edward asked. I looked at him and saw curiosity flickering in his eyes.

"Stanford is the first one," I replied, "The second is…Dartmouth." I quieted down at that one. I noticed Alice and Rose look out their respective windows. They were both planning to stay on the west coast. Rose was going to San Diego University while Alice was following Jasper at UW. They weren't very excited at the idea of me heading across to the other side of the country, but I also knew that if it was something I really wanted, something that I decided on, they would support me like they always have.

Edward's eyebrows had risen up and Jasper had given me a small smile. I think he out of everyone, truly knew where my heart was headed even before I did.

"That's very impressive Bella. Congratulations." Edward said, giving me a small smile.

I smiled back, "Thank you Edward. I appreciate that."

"Yeah, well that's not even the half of it," Alice piped in. I looked over to see her pushing forward in her seat so she was closer the guys and within better hearing range of Emmett and Rose. "Did she also tell you that she applied to Yale, Princeton and even Harvard?" She smirked.

Rose had turned in her seat to give me a huge smile. She knew how hard I had worked in school and was always calling me her little brainiac.

"Wow, really Bells?" Emmett called from the front. He seemed impressed by my choices in schools.

"Yeah, and the best part, sad for Rose and I but we're not as brilliant as our Bella here, she got accepted to all of them." She finished, bumping elbows with me.

If my face hadn't flared up already, it definitely was now. I looked down to my hands sitting in my lap, embarrassed, proud, so many emotions flowing through me.

"Holy shit Bella. You got accepted to all of these Ivy League's?!" Emmett boomed. I laughed quietly to myself.

"It's not a big deal Em, I'm not going to any of them anyways. I was just applying to see if I could get in. I didn't expect that I actually would." I rolled my eyes.

"Bella it IS a big deal! You should be so proud of yourself and everything you've accomplished! I know that I am and can't wait to see you succeeded in whatever you do!" Alice smiled, leaning over to give me a big hug. I smiled into my friends shoulder, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. Leaning back, Alice had the same expression on her face.

My first best friend, she knew me better than most, minus Rose, and knew how much I didn't want to leave her. The feeling was mutual on that part.

"Aw hell, move over boys, I'm coming back there." Rose demanded, tears in her eyes as well. She unbuckled herself and slid to the back, pushing me into the middle so we could make our RBA sandwich; delicious, and nutritious.

After awhile of playing some road games and numerous bathroom breaks and pit stops for the endless food Emmett had been shoving down his throat, we were almost to the Utah border. After every stop, seating arrangements kept switching around and it eventually ended up with me sitting next to Edward in the back of the minivan. Alice, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to Jasper while he drove, kept turning around to steal glances at me, hinting with her eyes to make a move on her brother. This situation was so weird.

"So…" I started, but that was about all I got out when I turned to see that he had his headphones in, starting out the window. Well, that was pointless.

I sighed and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I was frustrated at myself for feeling what I did for him and mostly for feeling anything at all. I didn't know why I even bothered. Alice had turned the music on again and I started singing along to the Ed Sheeran song, trying to distract myself from the undeniable boredom I felt.

"You have a beautiful voice." Edward whispered. My eyes shot open and I whipped my head in his direction. He was staring at me with his headphones out of ears, and a small smile gracing his perfect lips.

I laughed, and whispered a quiet thanks, dropping my eyes to hands, a light blush gracing my cheeks.

"You also have such a beautiful blush." He whispered, his fingers trailing down my cheek, his eyes capturing me in their gaze upon my face. My heart started to race and his finger was still tracing the blush on my cheek.

Suddenly, the car turned off the highway, and pulled in quickly to a gas station in the middle of nowhere. The passenger door opened and Alice took off, awkwardly running, resembling more of a pee dance than anything else, towards the bathroom no doubt. We all burst in to laughter at this while Jasper unbuckled himself and headed after her into the gas station. We had made a plan on the trip that at any point one of us girls has to go to the bathroom, someone must come with us. The same applied to the guys. There was always strength in numbers and we definitely had the numbers in our favor.

I stopped to remember that Edward has been mesmerizing me with his eyes, only to look over and see the headphones had once again returned to his ears and his eyes now gracing the window instead of me. My heart had sunk, but I knew nothing was ever going to happen anyways. I was plain, ordinary Bella, who, yes, was smart but was also terrible at landing boyfriends or even dates for that matter. I was two years younger than the Adonis sitting next to me and I'm sure he didn't want to waste time with me when he could be with someone his own age and at the same level he was. It was fine and I was fine and everything was just peachy.

This was going to be a long trip indeed.

**Finally on the road! New chapter should be coming within the next week. I am getting married in less than two weeks so it might take me a bit longer to get chapter 4 out. Please be patient with me! Thanks to everyone that is following this story and those who have favorited it! You guys are the best! **

**Dont forget to REVIEW! :) **

**-Hales**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello Beautiful People! Here is chapter 4! Hope you all enjoy and don't forget to review and let me know what you thought! This is the last update for at least a week or so. I'm getting married on the 26th and wont be available leading up to it. Thanks for your patience and understanding! Much love!**

Somewhere between the Utah border and Salt Lake City, I had fallen asleep. I remembered watching Edward out of the corner of my eye for a while before turning my attention to the rest of the car. Emmett had been telling us stories from high school, and not going to lie, they were pretty funny. I especially remembered the one where we had a school assembly closer towards homecoming, and per tradition of Forks High, the members of the football team had to trade outfits with the girls on the cheerleading squad. Emmett, being the schools tight end, was always the top pick of the girls to mess with the most, resulting in outfits that would make a drag queen drool. When they would announce names and who played what position, it normally evoked a response from Rose on just how tight Emmett's end was. The woman was obsessed.

I remembered that it was a little while later when my eyes had started to droop, exhausted from not only sitting in a car all day, but from letting my mind run wild about Edward and what exactly he meant to me, or even what I meant to him. I tried many different positions, trying to get comfortable, knowing we still had hours to go until we reached our hotel, but with no such luck, could not find a position that would allow me to go to sleep. I heaved a sigh from my body, fed up with the cramped spaces of the backseat, wanting to get out and move my legs, but I noticed that while Jasper was driving, everyone else had fallen asleep, even Edward at this point.

I think eventually I had found a position that suited me, because I was being shaken awake by none other than Edward himself and noticed that it was his shoulder that had become my pillow for the remainder of the ride.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep on you!" I quickly sat up, a blush crept its way across my cheeks and I hadn't felt more embarrassed in my life than I had in that moment.

He chuckled quietly and rolled his shoulders for a second, working out the kinks I'm sure I put there.

"It's fine Bella, I don't mind being your pillow. Especially with all of the talking that you do, it's more amusing than inconvenient" He whispered. The others were still asleep, minus Jasper, who looked like he was about to nod off any second.

My eyes had widened and I panicked for a minute, racking my brain for what I could have possibly said. I didn't remember dreaming anything, but Lord knows that it had to have been something good considering the smirk he was giving me.

"Oh no…" I groaned, covering my face. "What did I say?" I whined.

He just grinned at me and shook his head, telling me he wasn't going to say a word.

Great, it hasn't even been one day and I'm already acting like a total turd around him. _Couldn't get any worse, _I thought. I clearly had spoken too soon.

Suddenly the car veered off the road and we started running over the grooves on the shoulder.

"JASPER! LOOK OUT!" I yelled from the back seat. He jerked his head up and cursed.

"Shit! Hold on!" We went flying off the road, the front tires jerking to the left, trying to take us back to the highway.

"The wheel is locked!" Jasper yelled.

"HIT THE BRAKES!" Edward bellowed. I started panicking, looking around for something to grab, not finding any uh-oh handles at my disposal so I leeched on to Edward, holding his arm while he braced us against the seats in front of us.

We finally came to jerking stop, after sliding down the side of the ridge. We seemed to be in some ditch, about 500 ft from the main highway.

Rosalie was whimpering in her seat in front of me and Alice was crying in the front seat.

"God, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. It's okay, shhh, its alright, we're fine. We're safe." Jasper had grabbed Alice and was holding her against him, running his hand against the back of her head, her face on his shoulder.

"Bella! Are you okay?" Emmett had turned and was searching for me, not able to see very well in the darkness of the car.

"I'm right here Em, I'm okay." My voice shook, not accrediting what I had said.

Em grabbed my arm and yanked me forward into his lap, crushing me in a big bear hug, holding me while I quietly sobbed, letting the fear inside me spill out a tiny bit. I pulled my head up from Emmett's shoulder to see Rose, shaking in her seat.

"Rose, come here," I said, reaching out my hand to her. She grabbed it and I peeled myself away from Emmett to tighten my arms around her while she shook, taking deep breaths to try and steady her racing heart.

"It's okay Rose, we're fine. It's okay," I soothed, rubbing my hands up and down her back trying to calm her down.

"Hey man, you okay?" Emmett had turned to Edward, who was bent over, elbows perched on his knees, head in his hands.

"Yeah dude, I'm fine. Just a bit freaked that's all." Edward mumbled, his hands blocking most of the sound.

Emmett clapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed for a second.

"I know dude, me too. Thought that was the end for all of us." Emmett had whispered.

We all calmed down enough and opened the doors, carefully stepping outside. I had remembered that we packed a few flashlights in our emergency kit. I broke them out of their case and joined everyone outside.

Handing one to Emmett, he used it to check our surroundings. Yup, we were in the middle of nowhere in a ditch. Perfect.

"Shit, tire's blown!" Emmett called out from the driver's side of the car. Edward made his way over to it and sighed.

"We have a spare right?" He asked. Emmett nodded in reply and Edward started to make his way back to the trunk to look around to see if he could find it.

"Guys, I am so sorry. I don't think I fell asleep for longer than a second tops, I swear, but shit man, I royally messed up. Please forgive me." Jasper pleaded.

Alice had her arms circled around his waist, her face hidden in his side. I knew she was upset but she was also protective of Jasper. We all knew it was an accident, but it still didn't change the fact that we were now stuck on the side of the road with a flat, and it was closing in on midnight.

"Dude, chill, it could have happened to anyone. It's alright, we'll get the tire fixed. It's covered under the insurance for the car anyway. We should be back on the road by tomorrow, no problems." Emmett replied, while Jasper let out a big sigh and gave us a weary smile.

"Just next time, pull over and wake us up if you feel tired. No need to risk it." Emmett had given him a man hug and pulled away. All had been forgiven and forgotten.

"Hey guys, I could use your help over here you know…" Edward had called out from the trunk. Emmett and Jasper laughed to themselves and headed to the back.

"Problems, Eddie? You need me to show you how to fix a tire?" Emmett had a high pitch tone to his voice, mocking Edward.

"Shove it you buffoon, I need help getting the bags out of here so I can get to the tire. Alice packed rocks in her suitcase, I swear." He groaned.

Alice, Rose and I returned to inside the vehicle to get away from the cold. It was the middle of summer but the air definitely dropped out here at night. We sat in the front as to not put any more pressure on the part of the car the guys were trying to fix.

"So, I saw you getting all cozy next to Edward in the back there. You finally make a move?" Alice beamed. I rolled my eyes in response and shoved her shoulder, making her laugh.

"More like I accidentally fell asleep and somehow ended up on his shoulder, than my life flashed before my eyes and he was the only thing to grab." I huffed, turning my head to look outside at the guys who were cracking jokes at each other's expense.

"Bella, please, save us the sob story and just admit already that you like him." Rose said.

"You guys, I don't even know him! We hardly have said much to one another since I first saw him again. How can I have feelings for someone I don't even know?" I questioned, folding my arms against my chest. They looked at each other silently for a second, and then back to me.

"Okay Bella, if that's the case, then get to know him. What damage could it do?" Alice begged. I sighed and shook my head at them. They were relentless.

"Fine, if it will get you both of my back about this subject, then I will try to get to know Edward. But if he doesn't show any interest whatsoever to get to know me back, I'm not bothering." I replied.

"Deal!" Alice smiled. They both wore shit-eating grins and I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous they both were. Fifteen minutes later the guys had re-loaded the bags into the trunk and came around to the left side door.

"Alright ladies, we're all set here. Hotel is about an hour away, but we have the spare on so it might take us twice as long to get there." Jasper sighed. We all groaned, exhausted from the long day and wanting nothing more than to crawl into a bed and pass out.

"Well, lets get going now before it gets any later." I replied. Everyone nodded and climbed back into the car. Emmett got in the drivers seat, Edward next to him. Alice and Jasper took the middle seat, while I reclaimed my old seat with Rose by my side. We snuggled up to one another and passed out, taking advantage of the extra travel time.

"Bella, hey Bella, wake up." I heard someone whisper in my ear. Whoever it was, grabbed a hold of my shoulder to try and shake me awake.

"No, five more minutes," I grumbled out quietly, turning my head into the seat. The voice chuckled and tried to wake me up again.

"Bella, c'mon, we're at the hotel. Everyone is waiting." The voice admonished, shoving my shoulder again.

I huffed angrily in my sleep, and snuggled even further into the seat trying to get away from whoever had the nerve to disturb me.

I heard a heavy sigh and the next thing I knew I was being lifted from the seat and taken out of the car. My eyes popped open wide and I found myself in the arms of Edward.

"Wha-What are you doing?" I stuttered.

"Carrying you." He simply replied, while continuing to walk in the direction of the hotel.

"Edward, put me down I can walk" I pleaded but he only laughed at me.

"Nope. This is what you get for refusing to leave in the first place." He retorted. I huffed and tried to wiggle my way out of his strong hold but it was to no avail, I was stuck.

We came upon the door to the room in the hotel and he kicked it open with his foot. Inside, Rose and Alice had already passed out in one of the beds. There was another queen bed on the right and Edward walked over, bent down and placed me amongst the sheets.

He stopped for a minute and looked at me, a twinkle in his eye. He bent down and brushed some hair away from my forehead.

"Sweet dreams Bella." He whispered, his hand removing itself from my face, back to his side. He retreated through the door in the room that led to the adjoining room the guys were crashing in. He closed it quietly behind him and my heart was still thumping loudly in my chest.

"What was that…"I whispered quietly to myself out into the open room.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The next morning, all six of us were grumpier than normal, having not slept for very long, at least on my part. My mind had been racing ever since Edward said goodnight to me, and I kept replaying the entire scene over and over again. A part of me wanted to tell Alice and Rose about it, but another part wanted to keep it for myself and to gush over it silently. I wasn't sure what to do, but I definitely had to think it over first before I made decision.

We made our way downstairs to one of the conference rooms in the hotel that they were serving breakfast in, grabbing a table towards the back that had enough seats for all of us.

"Ugh, I need coffee now." Alice whined, grabbing her head in her hands.

"Shhh, you're too loud." Rosalie mumbled from her arms that her head was currently laying on.

"Man you girls look terrible. Did you not sleep or something?" Emmett remarked. Rosalie sat up and gave him the dirtiest look I had seen to date and that quickly shut him up.

Jasper returned from the buffet with three coffees, handing one to Rose and I and placing the other in front of Alice.

"Praise the Lord! Thank you sweetheart!" Alice cheered and greedily gulped down the coffee.

"Jeeze pixie, slow it down. You're going to burn your throat." I mumbled, but it was no use, she already had downed it.

After breakfast, we returned to our rooms to grab our bags and head out to the van. As we were riding down in the elevator, the weight of one of Alice's bags had caused me to tip to one side a bit too much. I started to fall over when a pair of arms secured itself around my waist, righting me and grabbing the bag from my hand. I turned to Edward who was behind me and gave him a small smile in thanks.

I hoped he didn't see the giddy smile or the blush that had graced my face in response to his touch.

We loaded our bags into the car, and piled inside. I called out shotgun, wanting to eradicate myself from the back of the van, in an attempt to stretch my legs and get to control the music we played for once. I had sat down and buckled myself in when I noticed that the driver side door opened and Edward sat down instead of Emmett. I looked behind me in confusion and saw Rose and Alice smirking at me.

Great, they planned this.

"Edward, there's a shop just down the way from here on the left, Roy's Auto-body I think it's called. Turn in there and we'll get the tire fixed up." Emmett said. Edward nodded in response and we started off towards the auto shop.

After waiting around for an hour while they got us a new tire, courtesy of the rental agency, we finally were able to head off towards downtown Salt Lake City and check out the sights.

Alice and Rose wanted to hit up City Creek Center for shopping, but after a unanimous no from the men and I, we finally all agreed to go sightseeing. Who knew when we would be able to see it again, it was a once in a lifetime chance. We drove all around, checking out the Aquarium, some of the local parks and finally stopping into one of the local restaurants to try the local cuisine. We munched on burgers, fries and milkshakes, making us all extremely full.

"Oh my god, this may be the best burger I have ever had." Emmett moaned, stuffing the burger in his face once more.

"You know you can chew and then swallow the burger right?" I laughed. He stuck his tongue out at me and dove right back into his food.

"Well that was mature." I stuck my tongue out as well. I didn't say I had to be mature.

"So what's the plan after this?" Edward asked, while chewing on a french-fry.

"Well I really want to see Arches national park. It's a couple hours east of here but since we're headed in that direction anyways, I figured we could maybe hit it up?" I replied sipping from my milkshake.

"Oh, is that the one with the giant red rocks?" Alice chirped.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be really amazing. I've always wanted to see it." I said.

Alice smiled in response, and everyone seemed to nod his or her head in agreement. After we finished lunch we piled back into the car and started making our way out of Salt Lake City towards the national park. We played some more car games, trying to pass the time before we made it to the park.

"BELCHHHH!" The loudest burping noise had erupted from the backseat. I turned to see Rosalie blush in embarrassment. The rest of us were gagging and making disgusted faces at Rose.

"Oh my god. That was sick Rose! Up top!" Emmett had the biggest smile on his face and a look in his eyes that I couldn't quite make out. Rosalie giggled at that and gave him a high five. I just rolled my eyes and turned around to face the road. Edward was smiling next to me, and I turned to face him.

"What's so funny?" I asked. He turned his head towards me and stared at my face, and then faced the road again.

"Emmett and Rose, they're totally into one another" He said quietly so the others wouldn't hear him.

"You think?" I whispered, a slight smile on my face. The thought of my best friend and my brother getting together was definitely different, but it wasn't a bad different. I would love nothing more than to hopefully one day call her family since she practically was already. You could sense the sexual tension between them, and you could also tell that Emmett wanted to make a move, he just didn't know how.

"Yeah definitely. Emmett was talking about her last night when we were in the room. Asking us questions as if we knew anything. I think Jasper would be the most qualified out of the two of us to answer but he kept quiet." He laughed.

"Why didn't he just come to me? It's not like I would judge him or anything" I replied.

"I think he knows that, but I also think that this is new and fresh for him and he just needs some time to figure out how he feels and to get to know her better." Edward trailed off at the end, making it sound like it wasn't directed at Emmett after all.

The conversation died off after that and we both stayed silent mostly while the others talked behind us.

We finally saw an exit sign for Arches National Park and pulled off, following the road up to the entrance. After paying our fee we drove through, our faces pressed against the glass, amazed at the beautiful scenery that surrounded us.

We started our hike from the parking lot down to a lookout point about a mile away. The others had walked ahead and I had stopped to take pictures of the scenery, not wanting to miss the opportunity.

"Need some help?" I turned to see Edward standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, I'm okay, thank you though." I replied, turning back to the scenery.

"Are you sure? I can take some of you with the arches in the background if you want." He walked closer towards me. I lowered my arm for a minute and then shrugged.

"Sure, that would be great Edward. Thanks." I responded. He smiled and directed me where to stand to get the best shot.

"Okay, 1, 2, 3, say I love arches!" He called. I laughed and shook my head at his silliness.

"I love arches!" I yelled and raised my hands in the air, a big smile on my face.

"Perfect!" He cheered. We took a few more silly pictures and then decided we should try and catch up to the group who was ahead of us by now.

"So Bella, tell me about yourself." Edward said after a minute of walking in quiet.

"Well what do you want to know?" I looked down to my feet, watching my feet interchange as we walked.

"How about we play twenty questions and go back and forth, that way we both have to answer," He suggested.

"Okay, that seems fair. Would you like to go first or should I?" I asked.

"I'll go first, if that's alright," He said and I nodded my head in approval.

"Okay, let's see…if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?" He questioned.

"Hmm," I replied, "Well Italy would have to be my top pick. I've wanted to go ever since I was a little girl, probably because my name is Italian and that definitely had an influence over me when I was younger. But honestly, the architecture, the culture, cuisine, the way of life and the passion that encompasses not only Italy but Italian culture in general is something that definitely interests me." I replied. He nodded his head and smiled at me.

"That's awesome. I would love to go to Italy some day too. I've only ever been to France and Spain and believe me, those were both amazing, but I can see the draw to Italy for sure. " He responded.

"That's amazing! I hope I can go there one day. I would love to travel the world." I sighed.

"You should. It's breathtaking." He stared at me for a second too long before turning back to the front.

"So my turn?" I asked.

"Yup go ahead." He replied.

"Okay, what are you studying in college?" He laughed and stopped walking to look at me dumbfounded.

"Out of all the questions you could ask me, knowing full well I'd answer pretty much anything, you chose 'What's your major?'" He shook his head and sighed.

"Hey! It's a fair question. It's not like we were best friends in high school, I don't know what you're passionate about." I laughed.

"True, I'll give you that." He said, "I'm studying medicine. I want to become a doctor like my dad." It should have surprised me but it didn't. I could tell that he was going to make a great doctor. He had similar habits and qualities that Carlisle possessed, and if he's even close to how passionate Carlisle is about his patients, he would succeed just fine.

"That's really great Edward. You're going to make a fantastic doctor. Really." I responded. His hands had been shoved into his pockets while his head was down, watching his feet, kicking some rocks while we walked along.

"Thanks Bella, I appreciate it." He mumbled. He seemed to be lost in thought so I turned to face the path ahead of us, trying to spot the group that we had seemed to have lost sight of along the way. I didn't want to disturb him and whatever process of thought he seemed to be in, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, scanning through the pictures we took, laughing silently to myself at how goofy I looked in some of them. I ended up staring a bit too long at the ones of Edward in front of the arch. He had tried to scale it like a spider monkey, and was hanging upside down at one point. _Such a show off,_ I had thought to myself, smiling at how handsome he looked, even upside down.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get quiet on you." He spoke, after a moment or two of silence.

"Don't worry about it, I was just looking at the pictures we took. Some of these are hilarious." I replied, holding my phone out to show him. He laughed at a few and stared longer than necessary at others.

"This picture is legit. Can you send it to me?" He asked, showing me his spider-monkey picture. He pulled his phone out, giving me his number so that could send it to him.

"Su-sure." I mumbled, my hands shaking as I entered it into my phone. There it was, his name and number in my phone. He repeated his number to me one more time to confirm it and then I started a new text and sent the pictures his way.

"Thanks!" He grinned.

I nodded my head, and suddenly we heard some yelling.

"BEEEEELLLLAAAAAA! EDWAAAAARDD!" It sounded like Alice, but I couldn't be sure. We had rounded a corner on the path and saw them up ahead, little blips in the distance, looking around for us.

"Here comes the freak-show" Edward sighed. I laughed and rolled my eyes at him.

"C'mon they were bound to find us eventually. This path only goes in one direction." I replied.

"True. Just wish it was later rather than sooner." He mumbled to himself, quietly enough that I almost missed it. I wonder what he meant by that.

"Bella! Edward! There you two are!" Alice had yelled. She came running up to us while the others trailed behind her.

"So, anything happen?" She whispered to me. I gave her a pointed look and she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"What happened to you two?" She questioned. The rest of the gang had reached us, looking sweaty from the heat and trek back up the hill.

"We stopped to take some pictures, you know, capture the scenery? Edward was a spider monkey in one of them, he climbed up an arch and hung upside down." I smiled.

"Seriously?! I want to do that! Jasper c'mon, lets go climb!" Emmett exclaimed and took off for the closest arch. We all laughed as we watched him struggle to climb up it, Jasper was standing underneath, and staring up at him, knowing it wouldn't end well.

Emmett had reached the top and stood up, pumping his fists in the air, doing the Rocky move.

"Here we go again…" I sighed. Everyone gave me a weird look and suddenly we saw Emmett misstep and slide backwards right off the arch. Luckily he caught himself on the rock before he tumbled down onto Jasper, but you could see the sheer panic on his face. He definitely did not expect that.

Edward and Alice had burst into laughter at his antics. Rose hid her head in her hands, sighing at him. I walked towards the arch, looking up at Emmett.

"So you going to hang there all day or are you planning on coming down to join the rest of us, spider monkey?" I yelled up at him, hands on my hips and a grin on my face.

"Shut it Bells, I meant to do that." He huffed. Jasper snorted and helped him get down, directing him where to drop that way he wouldn't end up being impaled by a rock below.

After a few more pictures of all us standing in front of a huge arch, with the help of another family that had been walking by, we headed up the trail to the car. We were all parched and sweaty from the heat and sat in the car for a minute, letting the air conditioning cool down our bodies while we chugged water from the cooler we had stocked full before we left.

We eventually started back towards the highway, making our way to Denver, having at least five more hours of drive time ahead of us.

"Have you ever been to Denver before?" Edward asked from my left. He had taken up the driving once again, with me stuck in the passenger seat. I had tried to get into the back but Alice literally jumped in at the last minute and shoved me towards the front. How rude.

"Yeah actually, we have an Uncle that lives out there. Our family has visited him a couple of times throughout the years. It's been awhile though." I replied.

"Oh man that's right! Uncle Roger! I miss that man." Emmett sighed. Roger was our father's brother. He was older by at least five years and was the forever bachelor in the family, having never married. It was sad really, I always thought he seemed a bit lonely out here all by himself, but I guess he didn't mind. He seemed to like the life he lived.

"Do you think we could stop by and see him on our way through?" I asked, turning back to look at Emmett and everyone else.

"Sure! Sounds like fun! Maybe he can show us some places to visit in Denver." Jasper replied.

Rose and Alice smiled and nodded along and Emmett looked thrilled. I turned to look at Edward who nodded as well.

"Awesome! Bells do you have his number at all?" Emmett asked, searching through his phone.

"I don't think so, but I'm sure I can get it from Dad." I replied, staring down at my contacts. I eventually had to text my Dad and he seemed as thrilled as we were. He hadn't seen his brother in a couple of years. He told us to give him a hug for him and we readily agreed.

"Uncle Roger here we come!" Emmett cheered. He was way more ecstatic than he should be, but whatever, I didn't feel like taking the time to figure out his craziness.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

We drove for a bit longer, having called Uncle Roger in the process and hearing how excited he was for visitors. He told us to cancel our hotel reservation and that we would be staying with him at his house instead. We tried to refuse him, stating we didn't want to be a bother, but he wasn't having it, telling us that we were to come straight to his house or else he would track us down and shove us in his car. He definitely was a bit scary when he wanted to be and nobody dared to tell him no.

We finally pulled up outside of his house and he came rushing out the door.

"There she is!" He cheered as I stepped out of the passenger side. I went running in for a hug and he squeezed me tight. He stepped back after a few seconds to look at me.

"Damn Bella, you've shot up at least a couple of feet since I've last seen you and now you're graduated and going to college," He said, shaking his head, "You're going to make me prematurely gray." He laughed. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Calm down Uncle Roger, it's not like I'm not doing something that everyone else in the world has done. " I sighed. He just chuckled and turned to see Emmett.

"There's the nephew!" He laughed. Emmett gave him a big hug, squeezing him tight and lifting him up in the air, making my Uncle laugh out loud at Emmett and his antics.

"Haven't changed a bit have you Em?" Roger laughed. Emmett shook his head.

"Well I did gain tons of muscle and a tight six pack but that's about it," He said nonchalantly. We all just laughed at him, and turned to Roger to introduce the rest of the gang.

"This is Alice and Rose, my best friends, and this is Jasper and Edward, Emmett's best friends from high school. Alice and Jasper are together." I said, turning to my Uncle who smiled at them and shook each of their hand.

"Nice to meet you all! Feel free to make yourself at home. Mi casa, es su casa." He said, extending his arms outward, a huge smile on his face.

That night we had dinner that the guys helped him make out on the grill, while the girls and I set the table and cleaned up the dishes after we had eaten. Afterwards, we all sat down in the living room for a while talking about our trip so far and the adventures we already had. There was a lot of laughter that erupted from most of the stories we had told, especially of the one that Emmett had spilled about my "kidnapping". My uncle had gotten a kick out of that one.

We eventually pooped out and decided to head to bed, saying our goodnights to my uncle.

"Goodnight Uncle Roger, thank you for letting us crash here for the night. I've missed you so much." I whispered, kissing him on the cheek and giving him a big hug.

"I've missed you too bells, it's been too long." He smiled warmly at me and got up, heading towards his room, whispering goodnight as he went. I headed to the guest room upstairs that Alice, Rose and I were sharing and closed the door behind me.

I cleaned up in the bathroom and changed into my pajamas, sighing in exhaustion as I turned off the light. Alice was already passed out while Rose was still drifting to sleep. I crawled into the bed next to her and grabbed the blankets, pulling them over my shoulders. I was halfway into dreamland when my phone vibrated next to me on the nightstand. I squinted in the dark to look at the bright screen, my eyes trying to focus on the words.

_**We still have at least eighteen questions to go, so be prepared to spill your guts to me :-) Goodnight Bella, sweet dreams. –E**_

My heart fluttered inside my chest and a big, cheesy grin spread across my lips. I pulled the phone to me and slid under the covers so I wouldn't disturb the girls.

I smiled and started typing my response giddy that he had not only texted me but that he had been the one to text first. Maybe he was as interested as Alice had said.

_**Well just remember that at least half of those are mine. If anyone should be prepared it should be you. I was just easing you in with the first one. ;-) **__**Goodnight Edward, I'll see you in the morning. –B**_

I put my phone back on the nightstand and leaned back on the pillow, closing my eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep. That night I had dreams involving the bronze-haired Adonis down the hall from me, and the way he made me feel. Maybe, just maybe, this trip could work out better than I had imagined.

**Review! Let me know what you thought! :)**


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